Chapter 13. Dare # 3. Number Magnet 1.
Have you ever wondered what the world would be like if there weren't any guys?
I have. It's terrible. Trust me I know because I basically live with 1674 girls and basically have six sisters, seven to be exact. The amounts of giggling and squealing I go through is just enough to kill someone, I'm surprised I'm even alive.
It was a beautiful Wednesday afternoon. Every Wednesday after four weeks, the principal allows us to go shopping. I hate hate hate shopping. Mostly it's my mother doing all the shopping for me.
Both my parents are retired. They're enjoying their retired life cruising the world leaving me to house sit, most of the time.
That's why I crash Marcy's place.
Every time my mother comes back from one of her trips, she'd always bring something back for me. She'd buy bikinis, crop tops, and low cut dresses. But so far the one clothing that fills up more than half of my closet is the leotards. And don't get me started on the number of shoes and bags she brings. I get my basketball Jerseys from my dad. He loves buying them but he doesn't wear them so I end up taking them.
I'm the youngest sibling out of my sisters. I don't talk about them because I don't know them. The whole school-apart from Marcy-just assumes that I'm an only child.
My oldest sister is Zinthia she's forty, old enough to be my mother. On some occasions when they'd all visit they'd joke around saying Yovanna and I was a mistake.
Yovanna is my twin sister. I also don't know her. We are terrifyingly identical, I've seen her pictures on Instagram and it's kinda creepy how we look so much alike. She lives halfway across the world from me, then it's a three-hour bus ride to the nearest bus stop, three days by bicycle and five hours by foot to her house. My aunty, Aunt Yovanna, her namesake, adopted her so I have no memories of her and if we ever did meet all I would do is stare at her.
On rare occassions both my parents would go and visit her. It was really hard for my mom especially.
OK, after Zinthia is Hadeth and Marylee who are also twins and are 38, after that it's Delilah who's 34, then Paola who's 28, then Ana-Grace who's 27 then its Yovanna and I. I only meet them like once a year, all except Yovanna.
I have very little memories of Ana-grace because by the time I learned how to talk she was sent to board in this school. They basically all have children of their own and none of them live here in Swan Valley. They are just scattered all over the world. I guess that's why my mom pampers me. Because I'm all she has left out of the eight.
"Roberts," Mrs. Walker said sternly bringing me out of my thoughts. I faced her and managed to give her a crooked smile.
Mrs. Calysta had reported me to her about my behavior yesterday.
"What you did yesterday was very unladylike. I expected more from you. Why can't you be like your sisters?"
I hated it when she compared me to the sisters I knew nothing about. "I'm sorry madam, it won't happen again," I apologized with my head bowed low.
"Your apology is accepted but I don't want to hear another thing like this happen to you. Unfortunately for you, I can't let this slide. I'll be calling your mother after this," she said standing up. Before she left she turned to me, "You're dismissed. As for your punishment, you will be getting the new Leotard wardrobe that has been donated by our sister school. Ms. Viola will give you the details," She opened the door and waited, looking at me. This was my cue to leave.
All the girls were lined up by the school entrance, wearing their own attire. Miniskirts, Tight pants, and everything else that looked uncomfortable. I stood by the window of the main office staring at how they easily walked in those kinds of things. I was wearing a white off-shoulder top with black jeans and ankle boots. I felt comfortable and these were the only clothes that my mom doesn't know I have. If she saw me now she'd scold me and tell me to put on a dress.
"The location of the place is in here," Ms. Viola said handing me a piece of paper. Her ebony hair cascaded over her shoulders. This was the first time to see her with her hair down and she was rocking it.
But who doesn't look pretty wih their hair down?
She was wearing a black camisole with her usual pencil skirt.
I took the note and tucked it into my purse. She looked at me and smiled. "Good Luck Lima, and behave," she said pinching my cheeks like I was a five year old.
I had to laugh, so I did.
I exited the main office and joined the rest of the girls standing next to Marcy. Marcy gave me a once over and started giving me a devious smile.
"What happened to 'I don't do shopping' girl?" She asked and I had to swat her shoulder. "She's still here. I'm just under punishment for skipping Lab yesterday.
"Sure," she said rolling her eyes playfully. "By the way, the senior brave hearts are celebrating their victory from the weekend's football match," she said eyeing me closely to see my reaction. I don't know how the hell she gets her information. Oh, right she has a phone.
"So?" I asked going deeper into thought.
If I see John I'm ignoring him. I remembered our short phone call yesterday and blushed.
"Lima, you're blushing," Marcy said her voice moving high pitch and I had to swat her arm again.
Just then a girl in a lower level than me approached us. She handed me a piece of paper and I unfolded it.
Dare page number 85. Get ten numbers. Guy numbers.
Dammit. Why did I have to do the asking? I scanned the crowd of girls until I saw Stephanie, Rhonda, and Lindsey. I wanted so badly to punch their evil smirk off their faces.
"Ladies listen up," Amber announced and we all faced her. She had her yellow canary fluffy hair up in a high ponytail. She was wearing leggings with a turquoise blue and white baseball sweater. "When we go outside, remember we are representing our school. So don't do anything crazy. Plus we all know what happens to girls who are unladylike around here. At exactly four in the afternoon, the buses will depart. If you're late, we will call your parents," she said sternly. We all nodded our heads. None of us wanted to get expelled from the school. Basically 96% of the girls that school here are legacies and being expelled would cause embarrassment to the family name.
It was always the head girls duty to give these kind of talks but deep inside we knew what would happen if we got late. And no it's not just phoning the parents.
Soon our buses arrived and we were off to the mall.
Yay.
The bus ride was awful. The girls in the back seat would sing songs with they're flat pitchy voices and the rest of the girls would be talking loud. I'm surprised the bus driver never gets distracted.
As soon as the bus stopped I got lost in the sea of girls that went out and this is how I lost Marcy.
I checked the note that Ms. Viola had given me.
84 Glazestone Street.
There should be 43 leotards.
Sizes:
Xl-10
large: 6
medium: 20
small: 7
Now how the hell am I supposed to carry all of that? I blew my bangs in frustration. I checked the other piece of paper. It had my dare on it.
Ten guys? How am I supposed to do that?
I walked around the mall wondering where Marcy went. That girl is crazy about shopping.
I walked around the edge of the building. That's when I saw John.
Seriously?
I haven't been here ten minutes and already I can see him.
He was with a lot of guys and Cayden and Miles were also among them. They had just come out of the pizza hut. Then they all did the bro hug or whatever and started departing from each other.
Some started following girls while the others went with their girlfriends. I scanned John. He was wearing a black bomber's jacket with a white shirt underneath and black washed jeans. He looked so hot right now just the sight of him gave me Goosebumps.
I decided to walk in the opposite direction. I definitely didn't want to bump into him after what happened yesterday. Don't get me wrong it felt good talking to him but right now, it would just be awkward.
Ten guys. Ten guys. Ten guys.
"Natalima over here," I heard Marcy shout. Once I spotted her, I saw her with Carter and Amber.
Carter is Marcy's older brother and he's a brother to me too. I ran and hugged him. He ruffled my hair and looked down at me. "Hey psycho," he greeted and I smiled at the nickname. I then released him and hit his shoulder. "I didn't see you at the party last weekend out," I said pouting. He then coughed bringing his hand to his mouth and making eye contact with Amber. It's like they telepathically sent each other messages because they started laughing.
"You busy or what? You looked like you were running away from something," he said lifting a brow. "Ha! Not even," I said rolling my eyes. Then an idea hit my head. "Hey, Carter can you give me your number?" I asked making Marcy laugh. Amber also laughed but her laugh sounded a bit like the 'WTF' type of laugh. "Why?" He asked. "Just shut up and give me your damn phone,"
"Alright, alright. Geez anything to get you to calm down," he held his hand up in surrender. He handed me his phone and I scanned through his contacts and managed to get seven numbers including his.
"Dude, you like have only seven contacts that belong guys and the rest are girl numbers," I complained and Amber elbowed him.
"Lima, can I?" She asked and Carter who was standing at the back was signaling me not to give it with all his actions. Before I could get the message, Amber grabbed the phone and started scrolling through "What the hell?" She half yelled looking at Carter. "Who's Makaina? Who's Gale?" She started throwing him questions.
"Baby, they're just friends," he defended.
"Don't baby me," she said handing him back his phone and walked away arms crossed.
"Ok? What just happened?" Marcy asked after Carter went after Amber. "I have no idea," I said staring after them. I faced Marcy again. "Relationships!" I exclaimed popping my tongue out and Marcy laughed along with me. "Hey! Just because you're not in a relationship doesn't give you the right to make fun," She said and I laughed. When the laughter died down I pressed my lips into a thin line as I remembered my dare. "I need two more numbers," I said blowing my bangs again in frustration. "Well, what better place to get a guys number than the mall?" She said pointing around. "Come on," she took my hand. "You have to check out this place. They got the best shirts," she said out of excitement. She led me into a men's clothes shop and started going through the clothes. She sometimes buys men's clothes for her to sleep in because they're comfy and I'm also guilty for doing that. I just stood near her and let my eyes wander around the room.
Then I saw him again. John. He passed by the shop laughing with Miles and Cayden.
I hid behind Marcy and looked in the opposite direction. By the time I was sure they had passed I looked back. "Carter was right," Marcy said skimming through the clothes. She then looked me in the eye and said "You are hiding from someone,"
"N-no. Nuh-not ev-even," I said.
"Sure," she rolled her eyes. She then continued skimming through the clothes. "By the way, John and his friends are up ahead," she looked ahead. I followed her gaze and saw the three of them. "I almost forgot," I said snapping my fingers. "I'm on punishment,"
"Yeah right," she said, muttering something in Spanish. That was the last thing I heard her say before slipping out of the shop.
The mall was really modern. It also had so many cute and colorful stalls everywhere. I walked through a sunlit hallway and traced my hand on the smooth wall.
I looked out the big window and spotted a pool party going on down below on the other side of the parking lot.
That's when an idea hit me.